Doctors are working without pay

The PF regime, through the Ministry of Health has failed to pay close to 200 newly recruited medical doctors seven months after they were deployed.

And a number of qualified doctors in Zambia still remain unemployed.

Sources at the Ministry of Health have confirmed that 139 doctors are working without being placed on the payroll.

The worst affected medical facility is the University Teaching Hospital where 26 doctors are working without getting paid while at Levy Mwanawasa General Hospital, 28 doctors have also not been put on payroll except for only four.

Ministry officials have confirmed that the Resident Doctors Association of Zambia has started engaging the Ministry in order to resolve the issue.

In a recent media statement in reaction to Government’s move to ban public health workers from taking up private jobs, Resident Doctors Association of Zambia General Secretary Francis Mupeta reminded government that Zambia doctors have sacrificed a lot and given up so many of their rights as workers for the sake of saving the public.

Dr Mupeta stated that having medical doctors go for seven months with pay is equivalent to casualisation of the medical profession

He described the situation as sad.

“Doctors went for 5 straight years without a pay raise until this year when they received a nominal rise that is not even worth talking about. Resident doctors are currently being underpaid their fuel allowance for the past 5 years and have continued to live on the promissory note of the “issue being rectified”.

Specialist doctors are being deployed to all provincial hospitals without a corresponding match in their pay. This too is tantamount to abuse of employees,” Dr Mupeta said.

Dr Mupeta charged that doctors in the public-sector work with limited resources and have gone without complaining.